Did Poughkeepsie Secretly Add a Free Parking Option?

This would make the Monopoly guy very proud. I parked in downtown Poughkeepsie the other day and noticed something seemed a little different. Did Poughkeepsie change their parking rates?

Did the rates for parking in downtown Poughkeepsie change without warning? Maybe they've been this way and I've never noticed. Like most people, whenever I used to park at a meter in Poughkeepsie I'd have to go up to the meter, throw in my debit card, and pay the $1.50 for an hour. If memory serves an hour was the minimum payment option.

Yesterday, after parking and approaching the meter I was prompted with new options I've never seen before,

I was asked to enter my license plate. After doing so I was given two options. One option was the standard hour for $1.50. The other option was for 15 minutes which was no charge.

Has this always been the case? Did they add a free short term parking option? Is this a fairly new thing or have I been overpaying for parking for years?